Reviewed by Stefanie Rosenboom

The quote on the cover, by Joanne Harris author of Chocolat, raised high expectations about the content of this novel and puts emphasis on The Matchmaker of Périgord as a typical ‘Chocolat’-style novel. On first glance the similarities with Chocolat is unmistakable. Both novels take place in a typical French village, focus on the love life of an entire village, with one couple in particular, and construct a link between food & love.

The Matchmaker of Périgord is a story filled with remarkable characters, all of them with their own quirks and habits. The main character, Guillaume Ladoucette, is a traditional barber who can’t – and won’t – keep up with the fast-changing and fashionable world of hairdressing. It feels like time has stood still for him, which is only enforced by the timeless feeling of the rustic country village of Amour-sur-Belle. The great love of his life, Émilie Fraisse, reappears in the village after a lifetime of misunderstandings and false presumptions. While Guillaume and Émilie beat around the bush in a complicated series of events the other villagers start to develop into warm-bodied, love-starved individuals. The arrival of a municipal shower in the middle of the village and the career switch of Guillaume from barber to matchmaker both work as a catalyst for the development of the love stories.

That Guillaume has no scruples in offering his services as a matchmaker while he is living proof that he knows nothing of love doesn’t hamper the enthusiasm with which the villagers sign up for his services (after an initially slow start). It’s rather like watching lemmings rushing off a rock… and bouncing off the soft grass 10 cm below before heading to the next rock. It’s not Guillaume’s “skill” of selecting total opposites from his matchmaking books, but the sheer stamina with which the villagers go on dates, desperate to succeed in finding love, that ultimately leads to success.

The Matchmaker of Périgord is an airy comical romance novel that is often amusing and surprising, but lacks the depth of passion in the characters to give it credibility. Although the novel paints an accurate picture of the average village life in a small French village, it sometimes tries to paint a too-detailed picture of the food that is eaten. It rather feels like you are reading a mix between a gourmet cookbook and a novel. At times the precise description and the numerous references to food was so off-putting for me that I had to put the book away and forsake lunch.

The Matchmaker of Perigord is a delightful book for reading in a hammock or on the riverside in sunny weather, but nowhere near reaches the level of Chocolat. However it is a good read in its own right and will enliven your daydreams of living in a small chateau at the edge of a typical small French village.

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